By Husna Fathiyyah
GOMBAK, 30 January 2021: A webinar held on Friday discussing the future of newsroom and communication schools in Malaysia concluded that media schools need to cultivate a new syllabus to prepare students for the future.
Discussing the subject at the webinar on the topic “Newsroom and Media School Futures: A Conversation”, the panelists shared their concerns on the new hurdles awaiting communication graduates, particularly in journalism.
The webinar was organised by Futures Studies Office of the Rector, IIUM, and participated by five panelists with incredible experiences in the academia and the industry.
Prof. Dr. Ahmad Murad Merican of International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation (ISTAC), IIUM, provided historical context on the concept of futures studies, an interdisciplinary knowledge deemed important to be included in communication schools today to prepare students with new possibilities in media industry.
Former CEO of New Straits Times Press, Datuk Seri Abdul Jalil Hamid, spoke on the importance of social media to younger audience and how newsrooms should adapt to new development in order to engage with the new generation of the digital media.
Meanwhile, Andrew Ong of Malaysiakini highlighted that newsrooms in Malaysia are lagging behind regional newsrooms in terms of technology and audience reachability.
The editor of Between the Lines, Darshini Kandasamy, was concerned with the future of journalism and journalists, where she pointed out that newsroom is a business at the end of the day, hence it is important for the industry to start planning for a sustainable business model.
On the other hand, the Dean of School of Communication, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Dr. Nurzali Ismail, was concerned about communication graduates’ employability and equipping them with the skills needed to thrive in the industry.
To prepare communication graduates for such future, Dr. Nurzali recommended for communication schools to include disciplines such as economy, political science and computer science as core subjects in the curriculum for additional knowledge.
As digital media is becoming more relevant, he also recommended schools to equip students with social media skills.
Providing several examples of new communication studies, such as science data journalism and media entrepreneurship, Ong stated that such courses are relevant and important for the sustainability of communication graduates.
Datuk Seri Abdul Jalil also encouraged schools to develop students with high digital skills.
“The end is near for printed media. However, there is still hope for journalism in digital form. Demand for news still exists, however the platform will change,” Abdul Jalil said.
Prof. Ahmad Murad, on the other hand, suggested schools to include futures studies in their curriculum as a subject, rather than a discipline of itself, to develop critical thinking skills for the graduates’ future.
Meanwhile, Darshini recommended the schools to educate students about media literacy, a skill that is lacking in the audience today, to help curb the dissemination of fake news in social media.
The webinar was moderated by Head of Futures Studies Office of the Rector, IIUM, Zarina Nalla, and participated by students and academic staff from various institutions, including IIUM, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Melaka and University of Malaya (UM).***